Lucent Dossier Turns Acrobatics into Erotics

Deep in the dungeonesque belly of the first private power plant in downtown Los Angeles, the Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque members prance around with feather headdresses and lace lingerie, dangling from sashes strung from the high, industrial ceilings of the spacious bar. Silent films flash in sepia tones on cement walls while the troupes resident DJ  DJ Imagika  spins a surreal soundtrack and gorgeous dancers turned acrobatics into erotics. Lucent Dossier at the Edison is a night for voyeurs. The gritty setting summons a sexy tension in the post-apocalyptic cabaret. Troupe members inhabit every hidden pocket of the bar, spinning their bodies into silky hammocks suspended from high beams, dancing seductively through the crowd, inviting couples sipping on pomegranate cocktails to put down their glasses and get their faces painted, or have their hands washed in a fancy, old-fashioned basin by two beautiful women who make the soap themselves, as well as the chili-cognac chocolate that theyll spoonfeed to you personally. Strings of golden lights pepper the eerie darkness like incandescent fish in the deep sea, and the whole scene becomes the precursor to a million future dreams. As the three-hour show progresses, performers blend in with the audience and the line between reality and fantasy blur into pure interaction. Only Lucent Dossiers acrobats can make a knot in a curtain the sexiest prop weve ever seen. Photograph by Shannon Cottrell. Wednesdays, 8:30 p.m.; Wed., Oct. 15, 8:30 p.m.; Wed., Oct. 22, 8:30 p.m.; Wednesdays. Starts: Sept. 24. Continues through Nov. 19, 2008